News Messages

The German chemical and biotech company BASF announced the withdrawal of its planned 4 year field trial with GM potatoes in Meath Co., Ireland. The potatoes are genetically engineered for resistance to late blight (Phytophthora infestans), the disease responsible for the catastrophic Irish potato famine of 1846-50. The GM potatoes contain a resistance gene transferred from a wild potato variety native to Mexico.
The Irish Environmental Protection Agency had authorised the planting earlier this month, but the terms of agreement held BASF to a list of strict conditions. The company cited the stringent conditions and a tight time-frame as reasons for abandoning the tests.
BASF conducted field trials with the GM potatoes in Sweden in 2005, and Swedish authorities reported no unexpected effects. In addition to Sweden, testing sites this year include Germany and the Netherlands.

EU Council of Ministers: Disagreement over Threshold for GMO Traces in Organic Goods

The EU Agriculture Council was unable to agree on a threshold limit for traces of GMOs in organic products. The council opened debate on the topic for the first time on Monday, May 22nd. The current threshold for unintentional and technically unavoidable GMO presence in organic products is the same as the 0.9 percent limit for unlabelled conventional food and feed. The thresholds, however, only apply to traces of GMOs that are authorised in the EU and have undergone a comprehensive safety assessment.
At least ten member states at the council called for much lower thresholds for GM content in organic products. EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, however, continued to warn that lowering the threshold below 0.9 percent would be a burden and would place unneeded added costs on organic producers. The Council has set up a working group that will be working on coming up with a solution.

In late April, the Slovak government authorised field trials with genetically modified MON 810 maize at three undisclosed locations. The total area of the field trials is approximately 30 hectares. Although Slovakia never had an explicit ban on GMOs, this yearís field trials mark the first time GM seeds have ever been sown in Slovakia.
Public opinion in Slovakia is quite hostile toward GMOs. According to a 2004 poll, approximately half of Slovaks believe GMOs are dangerous to human health. Greenpeace has launched many campaigns to influence public opinion in Slovakia. Additionally, the bordering countries of Poland, Hungary, and Austria plan to remain GMO free and likely exert political pressure on Slovakia to conform. The Czech Republic, on the other hand, is one of the few European countries with commercial GM crop production.
Commercial GM crop production in Slovakia could theoretically take place soon, but current regulations make it difficult for farmers to provide the necessary documentation. Therefore, seed companies have not yet marketed GM seeds in Slovakia.
The field trials are being conducted by the agro-biotech company Monsanto.

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) released its official decision on the trade dispute over GMOs between the EU and a group of agro-product exporters led by the United States. According to the WTO, the de facto moratorium on new GMO approvals between 1997 and 2004 violated international free trade agreements. The WTOís official decision confirms preliminary reports made in early February.
According to the European Commission, the WTOís decision will have no effect the regulatory system for GMOs now in place in the EU. EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson does not see the decision as a reason to alter the EUís current GMO policies. According to Mandelson, the United States, Canada, and Argentina launched their complaint against the former de facto moratorium, not the science-based system of risk assessment in place today.

Bt Maize in the EU: Plantings Expanding in France and in the Czech Republic

Preliminary statistics on the 2006 growing season are suggesting that Bt maize production is continuing to expand in Europe. France and the Czech Republic are posting the greatest increases over last year. According to the French seed company Vilmorin, French farmers are planting 5,000 hectares of Bt maize in 2006. Last year, French farmers planted between 500 and 1000 hectares of Bt maize. In the Czech Republic, Bt maize cultivation is expected to expand from 270 hectares last year to 1,500 hectares in 2006.
Bt maize is also commercially grown in Spain, Germany, and Portugal. Spanish Bt maize production in 2005 covered 53,000 hectares, or 12.5 percent of Spainís total maize production. This was a slight decrease from 2004, both for Bt and for conventional maize. This growing season, Bt maize plantings are expected to exceed 2005 levels. The most intensive areas of Bt maize cultivation in Spain include Aragon (30 percent of maize is Bt) and Catalonia (40 percent). These regions are especially affected by the European corn borer.

The Polish parliament is in the midst of finalising a piece of legislation set to restrict the sale and registration of GM crops. The extent to which the law will keep farmers from planting GM crops is not yet entirely clear. The president is expected to sign the bill, which is the final hurdle before it is made into law.
The bill has sparked considerable controversy as it puts Poland on a collision course with the EU and with a recent WTO ruling against national bans on GMOs. The European Integration Committee Office, an independent office within the Polish government, warns that the bill violates EU regulations. Polandís deputy farm minister Jan Krzysztof Ardanowski has said that Warsaw would try to word the law in line with EU rules and possibly even attempt to modify the EUís policies on biotechnology.
Polandís conservative minority government has expressed its intention to make Poland free of GMOs to protect its image as an environmentally friendly state. Some politicians opposing the bill accuse the government of putting politics over science and hindering scientific research. A movement started by leading Polish scientists opposing the bill was not successful at stopping the billís approval in parliament.
In related, but different lawmaking regarding GMOs, the European Commission gave the green light to a ban on 16 cultivars of Bt maize in Poland (MON 810). The reason given for banning the GM maize cultivars was that they are not suited to Poland's climate. A ban on an additional 700 conventional cultivars based on the same reasons was also submitted to the Commission and is still awaiting approval.
Genetically modified seeds have never been planted in Poland.